Pre Spawning Behaviour.

[Andrew C]

One of the females i have has been sitting outside the males cave for a few weeks now.
Don't know if this is just the spot she has picked for herself, or something else
But sometimes she dances about the male, and he has also came out of the cave and danced about her, and even leaves his cave unoccupied for a short time during the day, which he never used to do

Is this just a ritual they do ?
Do females go in the cave unwittingly and the male traps them in the cave for breeding, or is it more a mutual thing ?
As i have read a few times on the forum about males trapping females in their caves and getting there wicked way

[du ma]

the same thing happened to me before, nothing happened though

[Barbie]

Do a water change with cold RO water tonight and he'll have her wedged in the back of the cave tomorrow, IME . It doesn't always work, but often enough to definitely make it worth trying!

Barbie

[Adam]

I've seen similar behaviour too, females hanging around males caves. I have noticed that when this happens the male will sometimes waggle his tail or move back and forth in the cave, it's almost as if he is trying to lure her in. Like Barbie says a cold water change may help her to make up her mind, some of mine have gone into the cave without any stimulation.

Adam

[Andrew C]

I did a week of 30% cooler water changes last week.
I think it is just going to be patience, till they figure things out, as they have been at this for a while !

The female at the cave is the smaller of the two females, the other one is bigger in size and build.
I am suprised its not the bigger female outside the cave

[Des]

AndrewC,
From the photo, the female outside the cave does not look "eggbound" enough. The only similarity I can give you is like a female Kribensis just before breeding. Just my opinion though.
Des.